Are you thinking of selling your Property “For Sale By Owner”? Here are a few things that you should think about and consider before continuing this quest yourself. First of all, most people sell “For Sale By Owner”, because they feel that they are competent of marketing their property in a way that will save them healthy real estate commissions. The fact of the matter is that they are leaving themselves wide open for disastrous lawsuits and almost every “For Sale By Owner Transaction” that takes place.
There are a few that you need to consider before placing you property on the market. If you find these factionsof selling your property ridiculous, think again. We are in a “Sue Happy” country, and more and more people are being awarded settlements for these ridiculous factions everyday. There are three big No Nos that come to my mind that you should take into consideration before selling “For Sale By Owner” or deciding to hire a professional.
1. State of South Carolina Residential Property Disclosure Statement- It is law in the State of South Carolina to disclose and pertinent information that you have about the property to the party in the transaction that is purchasing the property. The Property Disclosure Statement is a four page document that you should present to the buyer before an offer to purchase is made on the property. Buyers have a right under law to know about any latent defects with the property. Be very careful if you don’t have one of these forms to present the buyer.
2. Fair Housing Act- This Act Prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of dwellings, and in other housing-related transactions, based on
- Race
- Color
- National Origin
- Religion
- Sex
- Familial Status
- Handicap
You may not know that you are discriminating, but it is very easy for one to do when they are dealing directly with a buyer and don’t know what to watch out for. As Realtors handling the multitude of Buyers looking at your home, we take a big liability off your back with this one. This leads into the third subject that is a real biggy that you may overlooked. The way that you advertise your property may be discriminating, because of the “Federal Fair Housing Act”
3. Descrimitory Advertising- What makes for a good Clean Ad? You may think that a walk to the park or beach sounds great. Wrong answer… You have just descriminated against a handicap person. You may think that “Perfect for Empty-Nesters” sounds good. Wrong again… You just descriminated against a familiar status. As a matter of fact you have to be extra careful when talking directly to buyers. Your first instinct is to sell your home, but what do you say when the buyer ask you about your neighbors. You are leaving yourself wide open on this one.
When Realtors show houses, they let the buyers formulate their own opinions. After the buyer formulates an opinion, a good Realtor will use their expertise to overcome any objections that your buyer may have.
You may think that you selling “For Sale By Owner” is going to save you money in exchange for just a little bit of your time and money. The fact is that you are one person with very little up-to-date marketing experience; you don’t know the laws of today; and as I said you are only one person with limited access to the Internet and the local media. Let a Realtor market your property and you will get exposure to the other 4000 agents around Myrtle Beach; you will gain access to the 70% of buyer’s who are already working with a Realtor before they begin looking at properties. More exposure to your property increases demand to your property which will also increase the price that you can expect to receive in less amount of time. You are going to be steering yourself clear of many liabilities, because you are not dealing directly with the buyer.
With all this in consideration, is “For Sale By Owner” really saving you Money?
